1869 – Municipal Franchise Act is passed. Women ratepayers win the right to vote in local elections for municipal councils (though a court case ruling in 1872 reduced this to only unmarried women – widows, singles). The Act also enabled women to serve as Poor Law Guardians (Emmeline Pankhurst became such a guardian in 1894).

1870 – Married Women’s Property Act is passed. This allowed married women to be legal owners of the money they earned and to inherit property. This gave them the freedom to own or rent property, which had implications for future voting rights